Boast in the Lord

1 Cornthians 1:18-31 Micah 6:1-8 Year A 4th Sunday of Epiphany January 30, 2011 Today I want to start exactly where we left off last week. If you look in Corinthians – our scripture does the same thing. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Christianity is the only religion that celebrates the death of its leader. The jews would be appalled for the messiah to die on the cross. Muslim scripture denies the death of Christ, Hindus explain death away, and say that it did not really happen. 3/4th of the scripture of the new testament go into detail about Christ dying on the cross and what it means to those who are faithful to that event. For the world – the story of the cross s foolishness, but for those of us who are being saved – it is the story of our salvation. The cross is one of the simplest symbols in the world. A vertical line and a horizontal line. It is easier for a child to draw a cross then it is to draw a circle. Some say that the cross is a symbol of life, of the intersection between the holy and the world. It has been a symbol of God for times even before Christianity. But what does it really mean? Paul would say that it depends on who you are talking to. For the romans the cross was a symbol of shame. A form of death reserved for only the vialiest and most resented criminals. Intended to be a form of torture on a symbol of shame. For us, hopefully it is the exact opposite. It is the place where Christ lost his life, so that we could have ours. It is the place where Christ went to suffer on our behalf, so that we could be free tolive and enjoy salvation. It is the place where Christ conquered shame and hatred, and death so that we could have life. A writer tells of the time he was traveling – and went to a mcdonalds. He noticed that the server had on a beautiful cross. He complimented her – she said thank you- but told him that it was not the cross that was important. It was the man who died on it for her. The man who rose from the grave to wash away her sins and give her life. For this man, and all who saw her cross, she became a living testimony of what God can do in all of our lives. The cross was her wisdom. Paul’s lesson for us today is the difference between foolishness and wisdom. As a community called out and blessed by God, what do we consider wisdom and what do we consider foolishness. The congregation at Corinth was a young congregation, finding it identity, its mission and purpose. Fully dependent on the gifts that God had given them to work with. This was also a congregation of learned people. People who valued education, who kept up with current events, who knew and understood all of the latest philosophies of the day. And who unfortunately did not have a problem letting other people know how much they valued the world of ideas. Paul had to remind them that education and high ideals were great. And yet that was not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not concerned about how smart we are- whether it be street knowledge or book knowledge. Jesus cares about the condition of our hearts. That may be foolishness to the rest of the world, but for us it is the power of our salvation. A man worked as a case manager in a very poor neighborhood. He did not make a lot of money, but enough to take care of himself. He drove a pretty modest car, but at least it was paid for. It was a little old and in need of repair. Some costly repairs as a matter of fact. Repairs that he could not afford. Since he could not drive his car to work – his brother gave him a brand new Jaguar, complete with gold rims. In actuality, probably not the kind of car that you would drive to work everyday if you worked in Englewood. One day, he had to make a home visit. When he parked his car, he noticed a young boy on crutches on the stoop next door. On the man’s way out, the little boy struck a conversation with him. That’s a really nice car. Thank you said the man. Did you buy it? No it was a gift from my brother. Your brother just gave you that car? Yes, I am really blessed, my brother gave me this car. Wow – said the little boy – I wish I could be a brother like that. We would expect this boy to say that he wished that he had a brother like that, I know I wish I had a brother like that, even though I don’t know if I would want the car – insurance on the car that I have doubled the closer moved to Chicago. At one point my insurance payment was half as much as my car payment. But anyway…. The point being – our ways are not God’s ways. The values of common sense are just the opposite of God;s values. When we want to care about the kindness that others give to us, God ask us to care about the kindness that we can give to others. Paul says that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He does that so that if we chose to brag, then we need to brag on the things of God, not on ourselves and our own knowledge. Things that stand in the way of us living out our mission and purpose in Christ……forgetting that the source of all of our blessings is the grace of God, not our own work. And that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. If you are going to brag about anything that you have, including knowledge brag in the Lord, not in yourself. We can be grateful that we are called out – and in the community of the righteous. And God shows time and time again that God is always on the side of the righteous. God calls us always to be the righteous in the world. Micah is God’s lawsuit against his people. Scripture never really says what they did wrong. But you can imagine. They forgot who they were. They forgot they were the righteous of God. They got caught up in their own understanding. They forgot to boast in the lord. God gives the people a summons to court – and I love it- he tells them to plead their case to the mountains and the hills. Nature has never done wrong by God, it serves as a fair judge of our behavior, right or wrong. Another powerful message of the text that god doesn’t need your sacrifices, your offerings, or even your first born child. If you give all of that and you forgive to give you heart- it really doesn’t matter. John was tall for his age. Even in grade school, he towered over his classmates by three or four inches. He was also clever and excelled in his school work. John loved to read, and numbers fitted themselves together in his head without him really thinking about them, so he was good at both Maths and English. Everybody adored John. His teachers were delighted to have someone so talented at school, who would boost the school's SATS results. His classmates loved him too. He was fun to be with, and when they were all stuck for an answer during lessons, John could be relied upon to save the day. And John's Mum and Dad were very proud of John. He was clever enough to go into any job he wanted when he grew up and he would be certain to make lots of money. Jane struggled. She was a little on the plump side and she hated sports, which always made her puff and pant. She was dyslexic, so she struggled in class, too. The words on her page refused to stand still when she looked at them and when they danced all over the page, she couldn't understand what they said. Reading was a huge effort, but Jane persevered and struggled on. Mostly Jane kept herself in the background. She was content with her own company but very willing to listen to other people if they wanted to talk. Sometimes she'd spot children who were unhappy, and wander over just to talk to them and gradually people would drift in her direction if they needed someone to listen to their woes. Jane wasn't a very exciting person. Her parents loved her dearly, but they feared for her future. What sort of a job would she get when her reading was so poor and all she could do was to help other people? She would never make any money. When John grew up he became the owner of a string of shops. He became a famous businessman who was always invited to exotic parties and he lived in a huge house with its own gym and swimming pool which he used to keep himself fit. He moored his boat in the channel at the bottom of his garden and often used his boat to spend time away from all the stress of his life. When Jane grew up she became a Carer. She used to go into other people's homes when they were so old or so sick that they couldn't manage by themselves. Jane would help them to get out of bed or to dress or she would cook a meal for them. It wasn't a very well paid job and Jane never earned enough to buy a house of her own, but she was happy in her work. She liked being with other people and she enjoyed caring for them. And she had a nice little flat which the Council provided at a rent she could just about afford. When both Jane and John saw news of terrible flooding in one of the very poor countries of the world, neither of them hesitated. John immediately fished out his cheque book and wrote a cheque for £50,000 for the relief fund. Jane went along to the relief fund's headquarters and offered her services. She was put to work sorting through old clothes which people had given. It was a boring and backbreaking job, but Jane worked with a will, because she knew that her efforts would help that poor country. Later, John received a medal for his efforts and became Sir John. Jane received nothing for her efforts but she was happy, for she knew she was especially blessed by God. Which Had God’s favor- they both did. Which was a righteous person? They both were. The real Question is how is our relationship with God. God asks the people - what have I done to you that you have walked away from me? That you forget what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to live. What does the lord require of you? Sacrifice, or a righteous heart. The Lord requires of us to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with God. Mishput, hesed, and halak. The qualities of God- that God asks for us to live out in our lives. Justice, kindness and humble faithfulness are not just things that we do, it is not just who we are, not just how we live. But church it is also the environment that we create around us, in the sanctuary and without it. It is what we demand of ourselves and of everyone around us. It is what we defend and what we we give. It is our way to the cross, and beyond….. Let us pray…..

What Holds us Together?

Third Sunday of Epiphany January 23, 2011 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4:12-23 Year A Mission statement of each church………. Mission and Purpose Mission and purpose, that is our focus for the next two months. What is our mission and purpose for being here, what has God bothered to call all of us here for, and are we going to follow God, or stay stuck in our excuses for why that it not possible? There is nothing wrong with the mission, that mission always stays the same. But there are always reason why we are not living up to it. Paul goes over those reason for Corinth, but it doesn’t help for us to listen in, to see if in some small way- those things still are present today. What you do the the least of these you do to Christ Mr Smith tried an experiment with his social studies class – he invited each person to draw a picture of their enemy, when they were finished, she invited them to they could tack it up and throw darts at it. Sally had the perfect picture, she took her time and drew a picture of Mr. Smith. She got every detail just right, down to his pimples. She hated him and she wanted him to know it. This was her chance. Each child got their chance to stand in line and to throw their darts at the person they hated the most. Some of the children were so angry that they destroyed their pictures. And there were times when it was really hard to pull the darts out, but for some reason halfway through the line of children, Mr. Smith stopped the game. Two persons aways from her time, Sally was stopped, she would not get her turn to through the darts, this made her even madder. But Mr Smith pulled the darts away, and all of the pictures of enemies away. And behind it all was a picture of Jesus (this must have been a catholic school). Jesus on the cross, his chest nearly torn away from all of the puncture holes. Each time one of the students threw a dart at their enemy, they were also throwing a dart into the heart of Jesus. Jesus last words to his disciples were to feed my sheep. Take care of the things that Jesus cared for. At some point he also told that that what they do the least of these you do to me. We tend to think of that advice in a positive way. When we feed and take care of others, we take care of Jesus. But when we hurt one another, when we speak even of one another, what we do to our enemies, we also do to Jesus. Jesus takes a lot of punishment from our evil ways…. Paul’s first lesson to the church Paul is talking to the Corinthian church, reminding them of their mission and purpose and revealing to them what stands in the way of them living out their mission and purpose. The first thing that he addresses if their disunity. We don’t have that problem here, but he tells them that there are different factions in the church. Each evangelist that came to the church bought new people into the church. Instead of joining the church, those people were following a pastor. So some people were loyal to appollos, some loyal to peter, some to paul. It never occurred to them to be think about all of the other people in the church. That they were members of the church, not of a time in its history. It doesn’t matter when or how we joined the church, we are all the body of Christ. There is only one church, the church of jesus Christ. He asks if we are on such different pages, can Christ be divided? Trick question – because apparently he can – if we are separated and living in disagreement. Christ shouldn’t be separated, but when we disagree with one another – he is. We don’t have to like one another, but we do have to love Jesus. And if we really love Jesus, then there is no reason for us to hate one another. What we do to the least of these – we also do the Christ. The beginning of the Christian community in Matthew 4 Church should be a united community of people are who holy and set apart, sacred and important, called out for a purpose. The purpose is to love Jesus above all else. To leave everything else behind and to follow jesus . Matthew 4 shows us that being called out is the beginning of community. We know that John was in the desert baptizing people and telling them to repent for the kingdom of God was near. Many people think that Jesus started out as a disciple of John. And when he found out that John had been thrown in jail, he knew that he had to take over the job. He went throughout the countryside with the same message, repent, for the kingdom of God is near. But he had another message in addition to calling people, he asked them to follow me. He wanted them to be clear that the only path to the kingdom was to follow. He moved to Capernaum, a fishing town on the sea of gallilee and gave that invitation to perfect strangers. Simon, Peter, James, John. No one knows what they saw in jesus. Why they gave up job, family, tradition, pride and everything else. And they accepted that invitation to become a part of community, the body of Christ. Why do any of us accept that invitation to discipleship? What is it that any of us see in Jesus – salvation, healing, reconciliation, repentance, love, peace, joy. Whatever it is what we do see if that becoming a disciple requires a intentional decision. When we accept that invitation to follow me, we enter into a community, we will never walk alone. We may not like the people we walk with, but once we give up our lives, and we accept that invititation, we are a part of a special community called to reach out and make disciples of others – our mission and purpose. Either we make it to heaven together as the body of Christ, or we goto hell together as we pull each other down with our disagreements and misunderstandings. What we say about one another is a reflection of ourselves. Paul says that we should be united with one another in the same mind and the same purpose in the name of the lord Jesus Christ. Alaha means unity Lately I have been reading several books on the meaning of the Jesus words in his original language. Jesus didn’t write anything down, and the words of what happened were not written until hundreds of years after he died. Jesus would have spoke Aramaic as he went throughout the countryside preaching the good news. Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, are very similar languages, but not quite the same. The Hebrew word for god is elohim which means the one that is also many, Arabic – allah, aramiaic is alaha. But heres what is interesting – guess what alaha means. It means unity. Alaha is the one who cannot be separated, or divided, who is all things all people at the same time. Alaha is the sacred unity which is beyond names, forms, ideas, symbols, and concepts. In Aramiaic, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God means – ripe are the consistent in heart; they shall see sacred unity in all things. Have faith in God means remain within yourselves, - live in a place of rooted confidence in sacred unity. Can the church be divided? Not if it understands the sacred unity of god and the presence of god in all things. Keep the Bull out of the pasture Louie Newton was a Baptist preacher a generation ago. He used to answer all of his mail with a handwritten letter. Right before he was about to retire, he wrote two letters. One to a church that was so deeply divided that it was about to split, he gave intention instructions about what they needed to do to heal their differences. And the other was to the caretaker of his farm who was having trouble with a bull. By the grace of god when he was ready to mail the letters, he put them in the wrong envelopes. The caretaker, for the reconciliation instructions. The church council met to open this short note – close the gate and keep the bull out of the pasture. At first they were puzzled at what that had to do with all of their problems. Then the light went on in one church leaders head – I get it – the bull is the devil. We have been letting him run free in our lives. He has been running free in our church and destroying the flock. We need to keep the devil out and let Christ rule his pasture. Made sense to everybody – and they prayed for strength to live a more holy life. Do we live out the characteristics of God? Are disrespect, disregard, and an unwillingness to understand the needs of others the characteristics of a God who is the one which encompasses all things, who is sacred unity, above division? Can Christ really be divided? I don’t know. All things encompasses both the good and the bad in life and in people. What I do know is Paul’s words, is that when we are divided as the church, we empty the cross of its power. When we have our own agendas, our own clicks, our own opinions, God is thinking of us, but are we thinking of God? For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Let us pray……

Gifts of the Church

We don’t have to doubt that Martin Luther King is a called man. One of my favorite pictures of him is a icon, with him with a halo. All cultures recognize how important he was and that he had a heart to serve God.

He dedicated his life to what God told him to do.

Is. 49 is the second servant song. It spells out what the perfect servant does. Last week, in the first servant song – the bible said that a servant was a very gentle person, who loved peace, and who fought for justice, and who went in the world to make sure righteousness was done.

Today the servant says that he was called before birth, and given the gift of speaking up on behalf of the lord.

I just got my email from president obama, reminding us about Monday as a day of service, and to participate in services, but to also make sure that I worked on behalf of others on Monday. Marking this day with something useful.

In Hebrew, holy is the word qadeesha. Pure, holy saint, set apart. But it is not used with all of the baggage that we attach to it.

If I say that this cup is to be used solely for the pastor to drink out of, it is a holy cup, not because of who drinks out of it, but because it has been given purpose and meaning.

It is just like all of the other cups that it was made with, it will melt, it can be destroyed, it can be broken. It can be misused, it can be used for the wrong purpose.

But it is still holy – because it has a job to fulfill.
Nithqadash shmakh – means let the name of God be holy or set apart.

God cannot be misused, or destroyed, or broken. God is set apart from our lives. And yet God is also a part of our lives, our misuse, our brokenness.

But God continually tries to make things right, to bring things back to God, to bring reconciliation.

That is why God needs holy servants. Servants who understand that they are set apart for a special purpose, they have something to do. The will of God.

Isaiah talks about that work, but so does Paul in Corinthians. Paul set about on a journey all throughout Greece and parts of Europe and aisia visiting churches. Asking them to give from what they had in order to help the widows of Jerusalem. He soon learned that not only was each congregation different. But that they each received his message differently depending on what was going on. Some gave cheerfully and willingly to the cause, and others gave an excuse for why they could not give.

That gave birth to his letters to these congregations, addressing those issues in order to make them into missional communities who understood their mission and purpose. Which is to serve God through jesus Christ. Which is to be jesus Christ for those who don’t know that God is at work in the world.
Today we read the introduction of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. And yes he had to write two letters, they were a particularly troublesome group of people, with lots of problems that needed to be addressed. But we read both of those letters, in hopes that we can learn from their mistakes.

The greeting is pretty standard, I greet you in the name of jesus Christ. But Paul starts out right from the bat reminding them that are holy people. Called to be saints, sanctified in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? And what difference does that make in our behavior?

Paul also acknowledges that fact that they have gifts, the gifts of knowledge, speech and wisdom. What does that mean for them. The presence of gifts in a community means that God is present in that community and that god has commissioned or set aside that community for a certain purpose.

In the coming weeks Paul will talk a lot about spiritual gifts in the coming weeks. Gifts are a sign of being called by god for a certain purpose. But Paul also makes it clear that these gifts are not ours to use for our personal glory, that they are our to hold and use together in community. The body of Christ is an community not a person. When god speaks of the servant he is speaking of a community and a man. The two have to go hand in hand. In the coming weeks, we will speak more about gifts, but I do want to point out
That Paul points out that because Corinth has gifts, because the holy spirit is with them, they have to strength to get through anything that stand in the way of them fully serving God.

We will also learn that the things that Paul points out today as gifts, are really the problems that Paul is trying to address. They have knowledge but they know too much, they have speech, but they use it for the wrong things.

In our lives, it is not a matter of whether any of us are called, or whether we have to gifts to live out that call – but it is always a question of how we are using them. Are we using them to further God’s will or our own?
“It all started with two questions put to me by my grandmother during one of
our family’s regular Sunday afternoon visits with her in the nursing home where
she spent the last 3 years of her life. She was always glad to see us. There
were smiles and hugs all around every Sunday. But once in a while she would let
her guard down and tell us just how difficult life had become for her. Grandma
had outlived her husband and two of her sons, and she was bedridden. One day
she said to me, “Why doesn’t God let me die?” That was the first question.
Naively, I said what many of us have said in response to questions like that;
“Maybe God has something more for you to do.” These words would prove to be
prophetic. Years later I would recognize that moment as the beginning of what
was to be a great change in my life.
“The second question was much less dramatic than the first. Grandma simply
asked, “What did the preacher say in church today?” We had to admit that we
didn’t know, because we hadn’t been in church that day. We knew that we didn’t
dare tell her any stories, because the pastor called on her regularly and she
was sure to find out the truth. We went to worship the following Sunday, and
every Sunday after that, so that we could give Grandma accurate reports about
the content of the services. Sometimes we actually took notes during the sermon
so that we wouldn’t forget what the preacher said.
“This went on for about a year, and as the Sundays passed we found ourselves
more and more drawn to the gospel message. One day, my wife and I both realized
that we were going to worship for ourselves, because we wanted to go, and not
just so we could give a good report to Granma. We became excited about god and
the church. It was a genuine conversion experience for both of us. Christ
became real to us for the first time in our lives. Grandma didn’t have to pump
us to tell her about church anymore. We shared without being asked, because we
couldn’t help ourselves.
“That’s how it all started, but that was only the beginning. God wasn’t
finished with me yet. A few months later, at the end of the ordination service
at Annual Conference, the Bishop invited everyone who felt called into ordained
ministry to come forward to the altar. I had a very strong feeling that I ought
to go. It felt like someone was tugging at me, urging me to go. I didn’t
understand what was happening to me. My father and I had just purchased a
business together. It was no time to be thinking of a career change, so I
overruled the feeling. I remember literally hanging onto my chair to prevent
myself from going forward.” [Lectionary Stories: 40 Tellable Tales for Cycle A
by John Sumwalt]
Well you can imagine how this story ends. Once God starts knocking on your
door for one thing or another, God can be pretty persistent and Stephen Groves,
the man in the story, did in the end get both a college and seminary degree and
become an ordained pastor. But what I liked about his story was that it wasn’t
only about his calling. It also was about the struggle his grandmother was
having the discern what God was doing in her life and how with a simple question
she planted a seed in her grandson that would have an impact on many people.

It is a very simple story, but with a question we all have to ask ourselves, why is God doing this in my life, and what does God intend for me to get out of it. And when I see God, how will I respond.
Just a few days ago, a friend of mine asked me that question, where is god in this, I made the mistake of frowning and saying I am not sure. She reminded me that I was a pastor, and should be able to answer that. I have been wrestling with that question every since, I am a pastor, so I know God is always there – but its been something to think of how am I responding. Am I set apart or set upon? Am I being obedient, or spoiled? We have to answer that question as people, but most importantly as a church. What does it mean for us to be the body of Christ? What is our mission and purpose, and how to we live it out in our every day lives?
We wukk undoubtedly hear many words of king today and tomorrow. But let us most importqnt see the spirit of king and live accordingly. King fought for justice for black people, and when that wasn’t enough he fought for justice for all poor people, and when that wasn’t enough he started to define and redefine the meaning of poor people, and it was just at that moment that someone thought he was meddling too much and they killed him. And yet he faithfully followed the words of Isaiah 49 God says it is too light a thing that you should be my servant and to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to resotre the survivors of isreal, I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.
How do we let out light shine?

A Ship Without a Sail

Englewood UMC and Rust UMC January 9, 2011 The Baptism of the Lord Year A Isaiah 42:1-9 Matthew 3:13-17 “A Ship Without A Sail” The Baptismal Covenant I want to invite you to turn in the hymnal to page 36 – this is a part of the baptismal convenant – we are baptized with water, and the water needs to be blessed… The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us Pray… Eternal Father: when nothing existed but chaos, you swept across the dark waters and brought forth light. In the days of Noah you saved those in the ark through water. After the flood you set in the clouds a rainbow. When you say your people as slaves in Egypt, you led them to freedom through the sea. Their children you brought through the Jordan to the land which you promised. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell of God’s mercy each day. In the fullness of time you sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb. He was baptized by John and anointed by your Spirit. He called his disciples to share in the baptism of his death and resurrection and to make disciples of all nations. Declare his works to the nations, his glory among all the people. Pour our your Holy Spirit, to bless this gift of water and those who receive it, to wash away their sin and clothe them in righteousness throughout their lives, that dying and being raised in Christ, they may share in his final victory. All praise to you, Eternal Father, through your son Jesus Christ, who with you and the holy Spirit lives and reigns forever. Amen. The importance of water Water is an important part of our lives. Most of our body is made of up of water. We can go for days without food, but we cant go for long without water. Our great lakes is the most significant source of fresh water in the entire world. It was Kenan who pointed out to me that the world is mostly made of water. He probably didn’t realize when he said that how important water is to God’s creation. Genesis and light and water If you go back to Genesis and the 8 words of creation- God’s first word was let their be light- our lesson last week was Arise and shine your light has come. The second word of creation was let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water. The third word let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear, fifth was let the waters team with living creatures. Genesis one says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters…… Water was there before God spoke creation into being. God’s words of creation was not to create the water, it was to order the water that was already there, since the beginning of time. Water is an important part of our lives and our faith. Jesus and John the Baptist It was also an important part of Jesus’ faith. Every gospel, even John tells the story of Jesus baptism. Which is why we remember the story on the second Sunday of the year, every year. The first Sunday we remember the light, and the second Sunday we remember the importance of the water. Now I don’t know if you realize that baptism for John the Baptist was not the same as baptism for us. Purification ceremonies, cleansing ceremonies are actually a part of any religion. Before worshippers go to the mosque, they have to cleanse themselves. John the Baptist was carrying on a massive cleansing campaign, he seemed to want every Hebrew to participate. His baptism was not just a spiritual cleansing, it was also a cleansing of sins. People were coming to him to turn away from their sins, to repent and to turn to God. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were coming to him, and John, being a little rough around the edges and not always being civil with his words, says – you brood of vipers- what nerve you have to want to repent and be saved. Jesus too decides to come to him to be baptized. Each gospel writer records the story a little different. In Matthew John is surprised – why would Jesus come to him? It should be the other way around. He even refuses and Jesus insist that it must be so. Why did Jesus need to be baptized? If Jesus if the son of God, why does he need to be baptized by John? If he committed no sin, why would he need a baptism of repentance? Actually I think the real question is why is it so important for us to hear this story every year? Because from here, Jesus went out and started his ministry of salvation. In Isreal it rarely gets cold enough to snow, but there is a rainy season – from September to about April. And them the dry season is from about may to October. This baptism even had to have happen in April or May. When it was dry enough to come outside, but still wet enough for the rivers and wadis to have water in them. Before the next rainy season – Jesus was hanging on a cross according to Matthew. Some gospels say that jesus ministry lasted three years, but in matthew it was only a year. But it was the most important year of his life, because it was the year that he went out to save the world. He started to live as the servant of God. Matthew points us back to Isaiah 42 – which says here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. God is trying to do a new things and he needs someone to bring it to the rest of the world. God’s servant is the one who is totally obedient to God’s will. And fulfill gods mission to the world. Jesus tells John that he needs to be baptized so that he can fulfill all righteousness - in other words he can fulfill the scriptures, and God’s justice for he world. Why do we need to be baptized? If jesus was baptized to be obedient to God, then we are we baptized- In the United Methodist tradition – baptism means that we are cleansed of original sin, we are intiated in the family of God, we are assigned to finish Jesus’ work. Baptism gives us permission to be faithful, obedient followers of Christ. A beautiful thing happened the day Jesus was baptized, a voice came from above saying – this is my son, beloved with whom I am well pleased. Jesus was blessed, and told that he was accepted by God. He was on the right path for his life. Some of us spend a lifetime waiting for someone to tell us they love us, that they accept us, that what we are doing what God wants us to do. The importance of being blessed The bible says that Easau spent a lifetime wandering around the desert, because he father never told him that he loved him, and that he was special, and that he would live a blessed life. His brother Jacob had stolen his blessing, and for some reason his father felt that he only had one to give. And esau didn’t get it. How many other people are out there in the world who think that they are unblessed, unloved, that they are inferior, and cursed. And as a result they feel that they have to strike out and curse others? Just because no one told that they were special and that they had a place in the family? The good news is that Jesus had a mission to tell everyone in the world that they are children of God. God loves them, they have special gifts, and that they the acceptance and permission to use them. Jesus fulfilled that mission for a year of his life, and it is up to us to fulfill that mission on our lives today. Baptism is our assurance that we have been accepted, and that we are called to accept others. Being called means that we don’t have to be discouraged or afraid to fail, god is always with us and will never give up on us, even when we give up on ourselves. Advanced Search — (click to expand) ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Welcoming Mr. Forsythe Argile Smith Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 10:34-43 Mr. Forsythe made his work as an elementary school principal look easy. He had a knack for managing his swarm of teachers, coaches, administrators, students, and parents so that teaching and learning could happen every school day. Even though he didn't try to rule with an iron hand, everyone seemed to have tremendous respect for him. He certainly didn't look like a top-shelf administrator. Not a tall man at all, he had a few strands of unruly gray hair on the top of his head with a little more hanging on for dear life around his hat line. A portly fellow, he cut a heavy-in-the-middle figure that would remind you of Santa Claus, and he always looked like he had been dressed by committee. Nothing he wore seemed to match really well or fit quite right. His signature accessory to his garbled wardrobe happened to be a pair of thick glasses that perched precariously on the end of his nose all the time. Mr. Forsythe had incredible power over the school. Teachers lived with the reality that he could fire and replace each one of them as he deemed necessary. Students knew that the stroke of his pen could have them imprisoned to detention, Saturday school, or worse. Parents learned that he had the clout to make things happen. Every member of the school board understood his depth of his influence in the community. But power didn't matter to him very much. The children in his school, however, meant the world to him. He cared deeply about them -- each one of them. For instance, he liked to drop by the third-grade classes and quiz the students on their multiplication tables. All third-graders should have a firm grip on everything from "two times one" to "nine times nine" as far as he was concerned. That's why he would arrange "surprise" visits to each of the third-grade classes. On a typical surprise visit, he would say to the teacher, "I dropped by to see if these students were as smart as the other third-grade classes." Then he would ask, "Would you mind if I asked a few questions?" That's when the fun would begin. He would walk down the aisles, point to a student at random, and throw out a question like, "Two times seven?" A correct answer got a hearty, "Great!" Answering incorrectly got an encouraging "you'll get it next time" reply. Up and down the aisle he would go, hurling multiplication table questions left and right. Then he would leave, thanking the teacher for allowing him to interrupt and adding so everyone could hear, "They're really smart, aren't they?" One day he made a surprise visit to a class in which Charlie sat quietly trying to deal with a toothache. Charlie came from a poor family that couldn't afford dental care. He didn't wear nice clothes either, and he knew it. In fact, Charlie spent much of his time at school trying to be invisible. To make matters worse, his tooth hurt on the very day Mr. Forsythe made one of his surprise visits his class. In usual fashion, Mr. Forsythe made his way up and down the aisle and quizzed one student after another, getting closer to Charlie with each step he took. Then he flashed the question at Charlie, "Six times nine?" Forgetting his pain for a split second, Charlie spoke up, "Fifty-four." Then Mr. Forsythe launched a follow-up query, "Nine times eight?" "Seventy-two!" Charlie shot back. "You're good." Mr. Forsythe said. Then he turned to the teacher and confirmed, "He's really good." After Mr. Forsythe left the classroom, Charlie thought about Mr. Forsythe's visit. The most powerful person in his third-grade world had just said in public that he mattered. For a while, his tooth stopped hurting, and his self-esteem healed a little too. As far as he was concerned, Mr. Forsythe could visit his classroom anytime. Jesus came, powerful yet gentle and caring. People who know Him that way always welcome Him into their lives. A young girl treasures the times with her granddad, because everyday he prays with her and for her and makes her feel important in the eyes of God. She misses her grandfather deeply when he passes away, because no one else prays for her. One day she asks her mom why she doesn’t bless her the way her grandfather did. Her mom tells her that she blesses her daughter everyday, she prays to God everyday on her behalf, but she doesn’t have to wisdom to make sure that she knows. How many of the people in our lives know that we pray for them, that we accept them, that they are important to us. Being baptized, blessed by God is not only a gift, it is a responbility. Your responsibility is to be a blessing to other people. Blessing brings responsibility When Jesus was baptized, he was given an identity, a mission and a purpose. When we are baptized we are given a mission to fulfill also. When the church forgets to stay united in its mission, when we get so caught up on ourselves, that we forget that all that we do is for the good of others, we are like a ship without a sail. Jesus mission to feed the hungry, to help the blind to see, to set the prisoners free is our mission. Our assignment throught baptism, our call to be obedient servants. God is trying to do a new thing in the world, he calls you, he accepts you, because he needs you. Let us pray…

Arise and Shine, Your Light has Come!

January 2, 2011
Isaiah 60:1-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany of the Lord
Covenant Service
Year A

New Year’s is the only holiday that his celebrated in some form or another by every culture. It is also the oldest celebration known to humanity – dating back some 4000 years.

For most of our history, we have been an agricultural people, who needed to plant the crops over and again every year. When the crops were planted, and began to grow again in the spring, the people would celebrate new birth and a chance to start again.

Every culture celebrates some form of New Year, just not at that same time, and in the same way.

We celebrate New Year’s on January 1st – because when the Romans came up with the calendar that was the day they picked as the first day of the year.
Tradition says that January 1st is 8 days after December 25th. Jesus would have been circumcised and named on January 1st. The truth is however that Mary had her baby in the spring. December 25th is the day that the church commemorates Jesus birth. The official name of Christmas is the feast of the incarnation, the day we acknowledge that our light has come and that God is indeed present with us.

Actually, in the early days of the church, more important than Christmas is the season of epiphany. Epiphany means manifestation or appearance. Epiphany is on January 6th – 12 days after Christmas.
This is the day we acknowledge three wise men whom followed a star to Mary and Joseph’s house in Galilee to visit,
Worship and give gifts to a 2 year old. Note that I am speaking of Matthews’s story in chapter 2 and not confusing it with Luke’s manger as we traditionally do.
In spite of all of that long history – the point of the story is that Epiphany is the day that we recognized the glory of God in our lives. Christ was glorified as a King. Finally there was something in the world worth putting everything else aside – and giving our hearts to. Our light has come.

Isaiah 60 says Arise, shines, your light has come, and the glory of the lord has risen upon you.
These are beautiful poetic words with a very dark story behind them. We have been reading the story of Isaiah all year. We know the Israelites were cut off from their land, and then they were taken away, and not allowed to go home. Hundreds of years later, after they had adjusted to life they went home.
Isaiah was excited, hopeful; he gave a call to freedom, joy, peace, and a life they had always wanted, a life living fully the promises of God.
Unfortunately, all that people say was abandonment, destruction, what was stolen from them. They were overwhelmed at all of the work that needed to be done. They saw no way that things would change. More significantly, they had gotten complacent. Used to the way things were, they had adjusted to circumstances, they started to justify failure, and to accept the craziness of life as normal.

Isaiah’s message to them and us was it was time to come out of complacency- time to get up - arise, shine, your light has come.

You are the people of God, the keepers of the light, not only will the light heal the past, but others will see the light and seek you out, they want to be near the light of God too….A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. They will worship and praise god also.

I don’t want to be long, because we have a lot to do in service today, but I want to share a story, a story that good for a new year…..

There once was a man who lived in a village in Asia. He got married to a wonderful woman, and they had a wonderful son. The man built a house – and built a wonderful life for his family. He was so happy to go to work every day so that he could take care of his family. One day, he went off to work, and returned home to find that his house and his entire village had been destroyed. Thieves had come that day and pillaged the neighborhood and burned down all of the houses. The man was devastated to see that his wife and son had been killed in the horrible fire. In his grief, he ashes of his young son – he picked them up and sewed a cloth holder so that he could keep the ashes with him all of the time. It was the memory of these ashes that inspired him to rebuild his house and his life. He continued to go to work every day, with his shoulder bag of ashes with him. He continued on his life and yet never remarried, because he wanted to stay close to his family which had perished in the fire. But in reality his son did not die in the fire. The thieves had kidnapped him as a toddler so that they could take him home and make him slave. This little boy spent his whole childhood waiting until he would be big enough and strong enough to escape. That day finally came – and he ran for three days back to his village. He would recognize his house anywhere- he knew that his dad had rebuilt the house. Eagerly he ran to the door and knocked - dad it’s me please open the door. His dad was in the house reading a book when he heard the knock. Unlike Mary when she heard the knock at the door – he got defensive. Young man –I don’t know who you are- but this is a very cruel trick for you to play – you are not my son, please go away. The son tried to explain what had really happened, that he had not died, but had been kidnapped. The father’s natural response was to hold onto his bag of ashes – his real son. He told the young man to please go away. Dad – if you will just come and open the door all of this will make sense. The father replied – I don’t know who you are but you really must stop knocking at my door- But dad – I am not going to tell you again – go away! The son went away and lived his life – very sad that he would never have a relationship with his dad. Meanwhile, his dad held onto his bag of ashes and finished reading his book. Living his life never even aware of the opportunity for new life and a new relationship that he had just missed.

What are you holding in your bag?

Arise, shine people for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Time to come out of your complacency and acceptance of the way things are – and prepare for something different. Times to stop complaining about what other people are doing and to live up to the mission that Jesus gave us.

We have the light of the world, and the world is seeking a way out of darkness and looking for the light too. We need to be prepared to let our light shine.

Someone said that the worst thing in life is not in death by dying, it is in choosing to live a dead life.

What is it that it is time to let go of. We need to realize that it takes just as much energy to hold onto the bag of ashes as it does to let it go and get up and answer the door. We have to be willing to come out of our comfort zone and take a risk. Jesus knocks at our door all of the time- a New Year is a good time to get up and answer.

The world uses this as a time to set new goals and to make resolutions. The thing is that we can become so over focused on goals that we set for ourselves, that they box us in and prevent us from realizing God’s will for our lives.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism saw the New Year as a time for us to get in touch with our relationship with God and to commit ourselves in the New Year to listening and living the will of God. God’s will is not always what we want, or even what we think we need – God’s will for our lives is bigger than that.
God’s will is bigger to my service to the church, then my service to others. I serve the church, because I choose to honor God’s will. My goals, my resolutions, my dreams, my hopes, my service, my integrity – are all in keeping with God’s will for my life.

The doors of the church are open….

Now I invite all of us to covenant prayer together….

Setting a Trap for God - New Year's Eve

I havent' read a book since July when I received a new appointment. Recently, I felt that I needed to read a book in order to relieve some stress. I started to read one of Oprah's book club suggestions, about families in Africa. That was the only novel that I could find in the house. I thought I needed to escape my world and not read something work related.

I soon had to book down, I found that it was more depressing that my regular life. I went with something work related, but really excited me. it is a book about the meaning behind the aramaic in the Lord's prayer.

when we only hear something in English, there are many other things that can get lost in translation. I have just started reading the book, but i cant put it down. I wanted to share some things that I have learned.